Great job. Using a studio strobe rather than the speedlights will allow for more light and more control over the light hitting the model. I have to imagine that you lost a lot of light with that umbrella so far away from the water and model. As soon as that light hits the water it disperses and becomes soft and flat. That being said the images look great, you did a great job!

PS: There are ways to shoot both hardwired underwater strobes (for key or fill) and wirelessly sync your topside lighting without using optical triggered (which can be inconsistent and a pain in the ass at best). Will post a set up for that soon.

Thanks Jason, I would love to hear more about your setup.

I was actually surprised how reliably the optical triggering worked. granted, it was late afternoon so the whole setup was out of the sun. The one i had a problem with was the hairlight, i used a Inon z-240 with its slave sensor but it wouldn't fire out of the water. So i had to mount it with the slave sensor and a bit of the strobe head underwater to trigger it w the uw fill strobe. That did create a bit of a hotspot in a few photos, but the effect is kinda cool, i liked it.

was very pleased with my final result, a big improvement over my test shoot, with many thanks to Jeff and James for their really helpful advice. cheers,

@James - yes radio triggers. i use a cheaper version of pocket wizards from Paul C. Buff called (called cybersync's), tethered to the housing on a long strobe cord with the radio transmitter floating at the surface. Sometimes I use a similar setup to your description, except I use an old YS-350, often set up to trigger via optical as well. However, sometimes I like to use my Alien Bees (not the best monolights, but they do their job) outside the water (obviously). The issues I am trying to currently overcome is gridding or snooting to get directional light into the water. As soon as the light hits the water, it difuses in more directions than I'd like. But I do like the radio triggers. Previously I had to have one strobe pointed directly at the monolight to trigger it optically - that sucked

Optical triggers work...except when they don't

Chris - your images came out great. The clothing line also lends itself to being shot underwater, that's a big plus (colorful & flowing). You should indeed be pleased!

Thanks! That's really useful information - it would be great to have 100% reliable slaves. How do you keep the radio trigger from getting wet when it's bobbing around on the pool surface? Is it in a little pelican case or something?

Thanks! That's really useful information - it would be great to have 100% reliable slaves. How do you keep the radio trigger from getting wet when it's bobbing around on the pool surface? Is it in a little pelican case or something?

Interests:Sunlight reefs, warm water, fine wine, beautiful women. And Manchester City Football Club

Posted 25 May 2009 - 09:31 PM

Lovely shots!

Just to mention I did a photo shoot in an indoor pool a few weeks ago to photograph ballet underwater (the things you do eh?!).

It all went fairly well but I was just horrified to find when I downloaded the pics and saw them on my big screen that the images were covered in microbubbles which had accumulated on the port. I guess this is something to do with chlorine chemical reactions. I was just gutted. Only a few of 300+ pics were salvageable. Talk about hard lessons learned. It had taken me weeks to set up the models, the location, the costumes etc - and a re-shoot was not possible. The bubbles didn't show up at all on viewfinder or LCD screen and I never thought, I guess, to check on the port.

I also agree whole-heartedly about the need to ensure any topside lights are on top-class circuit breakers. The thought of a light dropping into the pool is just too awful: even worse than the ^&*$$%^& bubbles.....

I've found it easier to dispense with the Pelican case and just use a long synch cord.Pretty simple really:Long synch cord, female Nikonos socket to PC plug convertor, plug into Pocket Wizard, Pocket Wizard taped to a light stand on side of pool.Ryan from Reef Photo can customize a long synch cord and Nikonos to PC conversion for you.With regard to bubbles, as James said, turn off filter system, and get into the habit of wiping dome port every time you submerge.

Chris,
Very cool photos, awesome job!
I haven't done any fashion photography underwater, but I do a lot of kids portraits in swimming pools.

Question for anyone who has used backdrops underwater:
any tips/tricks on preventing these from billowing around all over the place?
Currently I use a bed-sheet (I think it's the most economical, as anything in chlorine water fades fairly quickly), weighted down by dive weights.
I've thought about sewing a pocket that I could thread a heavy pole through, but I'm always in different pools that vary in depth. . .

(just a side note, this is my first post . . . wooh wooh . . . was encouraged to start getting on the forums by Steve, who I met at the Wetpixel booth at the Scuba Show in Long Beach this past weekend) ; )

Welcome Chris.
To weight the sheet; a pocket as you mention with a chain is what I use, though a pole as you suggest probably would work as well and may be even better at keeping the backdrop straight. I'd try both, see which works better for you.

Chris,Very cool photos, awesome job!I haven't done any fashion photography underwater, but I do a lot of kids portraits in swimming pools.

Question for anyone who has used backdrops underwater:any tips/tricks on preventing these from billowing around all over the place?Currently I use a bed-sheet (I think it's the most economical, as anything in chlorine water fades fairly quickly), weighted down by dive weights.I've thought about sewing a pocket that I could thread a heavy pole through, but I'm always in different pools that vary in depth. . .

(just a side note, this is my first post . . . wooh wooh . . . was encouraged to start getting on the forums by Steve, who I met at the Wetpixel booth at the Scuba Show in Long Beach this past weekend) ; )

Hey Abi,

Thanks and welcome to wetpixel. As i'm sure you noticed in this thread, I couldn't have produced the results i did my 2nd time around without the help from fellow wetpixilians, like Jeff and James and others. This place is a great resource.

For my backdrop i used about 40lbs of dive weights to hold it down and it was still billowing out a bit. I think a pole or other sort of pockets for weights would certainly help. Cheers,